Gulf of St. Lawrence drilling causes concern

A Magdalen Islands woman is campaigning across the Atlantic region warning people about the potential dangers posed by a proposed offshore oil project in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Marilyn Clark, a student at Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., is meeting fishermen's organizations and processors who live in communities around the gulf this week.

She's making them aware of the project led by Halifax-based Corridor Resources called Old Harry, which is due for seismic surveys this fall to pinpoint the location of an oil well which could be drilled next year.

'Our shrimpers are in the area and I guess everybody is a little bit scared right now with what happened in the Gulf of Mexico.' Jean Lanteigne, fishermen's association

The Memorial University student said the proposed oil project should be put on hold until there are better assurances that protect the region's fishing industry and coastal communities against a possible oil spill.

"This is basically about the productivity of the Gulf of St. Lawrence," she said.

"That's something we can all relate to as coastal communities in five provinces."

Norm Miller, the president of Corridor Resources, said in March that estimates in one zone show the capacity to hold two billion barrels of oil.

The field is located between Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec's Magdalen Islands.

When BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, it unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Clark said provincial and federal officials should "really step back and evaluate what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico."

Clark has already held information meetings in Cape Breton, in New Brunswick's Acadian peninsula and Moncton. She is travelling to Prince Edward Island on Friday.

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea observed a mock spill response on the Miramichi River, N.B., this week and said the Canadian Coast Guard was prepared for any potential oil spills.

New Brunswick Fisheries Minister Rick Doucet has asked that Shea and the other Atlantic fisheries ministers convene a special summit so they could discuss their preparedness in the case of any oil spills in the region.

BP disaster raising awareness

Clark said the graphic images coming out of the Gulf of Mexico following BP's massive oil spill in the region is bringing more attention to her campaign.

"The people that normally wouldn't have listened all of sudden were worried and we could certainly relate to that situation and it's got a lot of attention," Clark said.

"It's a lot easier to make people aware of our concerns when we're watching television every day and watching with horror what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico."

She's meeting fishermen and processors in all of the provinces that could be affected by the project, hoping they'll get better informed and arrive at a common position.

Jean Lanteigne, the executive director of Fdration rgionale acadienne des pcheurs professionals, said his members who fish for shrimp off the Magdalen Islands were unaware of the possible implications of the oil-drilling project.

"Our shrimpers are in the area and I guess everybody is a little bit scared right now with what happened in the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

Lanteigne said his organization's board of directors will discuss the proposed oil project and begin to press both levels of government for assurances that the spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico doesn't happen in the Atlantic region.